Luftwaffe soldbuch

Here are photos of a soldbuch I have that belonged to a man who spent time in JG53 and was then transferred into a Fallschirmjager unit. I haven't yet copied the entire book as I need to have my German friend translate each page. I didn't see a decorations/awards page, or a weapon being assigned, but I could easily have missed something.

Moderator, for the second time today I have managed to post a topic in the wrong forum. Please move this post to the documents forum.

Cololab said:

Here are photos of a soldbuch I have that belonged to a man who spent time in JG53 and was then transferred into a Fallschirmjager unit. I haven't yet copied the entire book as I need to have my German friend translate each page. I didn't see a decorations/awards page, or a weapon being assigned, but I could easily have missed something.

Moderator, for the second time today I have managed to post a topic in the wrong forum. Please move this post to the documents forum.

Click to expand...

Hello Cololab,

I just moved the thread, thanks for posting your Soldbuch.
It is a nice and Original example, he was a lorry driver the entire war so don't expect much medals or weapon entries in this one.


Cheers,
Peter

Thanks Peter for your comments.

I am bedeviled by trying to interpret German division, regiment, companies designations, so a little help would be greatly appreciated. Was he in Regiment 8 and this regiment was rotated from the 1st FJ Division to the 2nd FJ Division?

Hello Cololab,

Before further researching the Fj connection it would be a good idea to see if it can be confirmed that he really was with a Fj unit in 1944.
What I find odd is that he is issued all kinds of typical Fj kit but he never attended a Fj training program in one of the Fj schools.
From what I can see on the scans is that he was a lorry driver in various LW units, in 1944 these guys don't get the Fj kit anymore even if they serve in Fj units.
Are their any stamps, fieldpost number stamps, in this Soldbuch that link this soldier to Fj Rgt 8?
On page 11 their should be a control stamp/signature which will confirm with which unit he was in September/October 1944.


Cheers,
Peter

Hi Peter,
Here are all of the other pages in the book on which there is writing or stamps. Maybe these photos will help.

Thanks, this confirms what I was thinking, indeed no stamps that link him with I/FJR8 in 1944.
Someone has upgraded this Soldbuch of a lorry driver that worked on the Fj base in Helmstadt to make it look like a Soldbuch that belonged to someone of FJR8.
I'am pretty sure that this Uffz never served with FJR8.

The LW members that are transferred and/or volunteered to FJ units for active duty are medically checked and this medical exam is confirmed in their Soldbuch, I see no evidence that he was ever medically checked for Fj service.

Hi Cololab,

Two examples of late war Fallschirmjäger Soldbucher from my collection I have posted on this forum:
http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?20569-FJR15-in-the-battle-of-the-bulge

In both examples you can see an example of the glued in extra page that confirms they were medically fit enough to serve in a Fj unit, in one you also can see the control stamps on page 11 that confirm that he indeed served in a Fj unit .
Things that are missing in the Soldbuch in this thread, also notice that these Fj's were issued only a limited amount of Fj kit.


Cheers,
Peter

This is interesting. This particular soldbuch was among the items in a scrapbook I found in the estate of a WAC Lt. who had served in England, France and Germany. I am puzzled as to who, or why, this book would have been altered so long ago to make it look like this man was in a FJ regiment.

The blank section with tape residue on one page is where this soldbuch was attached. The other photos are of other items in the scrapbook, however this is only a sampling of what is taped on the scrapbook pages. This lady saved quite a bit of wartime and immediate postwar items to chronicle her foreign military service.

I realize this neither proves nor disproves the validity of the entries in the soldbuch. However given that it has seemingly been in the above scrapbook since the end of the war, I tend to think that the soldbuch is original despite the inconsistencies you have noted.

Cololab said:

This is interesting. This particular soldbuch was among the items in a scrapbook I found in the estate of a WAC Lt. who had served in England, France and Germany. I am puzzled as to who, or why, this book would have been altered so long ago to make it look like this man was in a FJ regiment.

The blank section with tape residue on one page is where this soldbuch was attached. The other photos are of other items in the scrapbook, however this is only a sampling of what is taped on the scrapbook pages. This lady saved quite a bit of wartime and immediate postwar items to chronicle her foreign military service.

I realize this neither proves nor disproves the validity of the entries in the soldbuch. However given that it has seemingly been in the above scrapbook since the end of the war, I tend to think that the soldbuch is original despite the inconsistencies you have noted.

Click to expand...

Hello Cololab,

The Soldbuch is Original, their is no doubt at all.
All FJ Regiments had logistical personel such as cooks and lorry drivers for example and they usually belonged to the staff company of the regiment; until their (March 1944) it all makes prefect sense.
- You can also notice that he is given a flying personal dogtag in that period, which is confirmed on page 3.
The last stamped entry in this Soldbuch that is 100% authentic is on page 10, he got an X-ray on April 14 1944 in Western France.
This can link him to FJR8 because they were based in Western France at that time.
Their are no entries anymore in this Soldbuch after this period, he isn't listed on the online KIA list, so I presume he was taken POW sometime after D-Day, which confirms with the provenance story.
Without the provenance story I wouldn't even believe the FJR8 entries to be authentic, now I feel more comfortable about it.
Nevertheless I find it very odd that he is issued all kinds of Fj combat kit at the end of February 1944, without having been through Fj training.
Why would you issue, for example by this time rare, jump boots to a guy that drives a supply truck?


To sum it up, I'll stick to my first repley: nice Soldbuch of a lorry driver that served as logistical personel with a Fj unit.
As a Soldbuch collector I have to look carfeully at "cool" entries in Soldbucher of soldiers that served in uncool units or services, fakers tend to upgrade these so that they can sell them for more money.


Cheers,
Peter

Hi Peter,
Thanks again for your interpretive skills. Given the unusual nature of some of the entries in this soldbuch and the need to maintain it's provenance, I plan to keep it associated with the scrapbook.

Cololab said:

Hi Peter,
Thanks again for your interpretive skills. Given the unusual nature of some of the entries in this soldbuch and the need to maintain it's provenance, I plan to keep it associated with the scrapbook.

Click to expand...

The provenance is everything with this one, indeed the scrapbook is best kept together.